Fire on Ice
by iCarlyRox18
Summary: Seeing Sam ice skate for the first time was a complete accident. Still, he couldn't believe how graceful that sexy myriad of curves on the ice looked. It was like watching flames burn unexpectedly elegantly on ice. And it was quite a sight to see. Seddie one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Just a cute little one-shot that came to my mind while I was thinking of Jennette McCurdy's many talents. If you love cute, I-wanna-go-out-with-you-again-but-I-can't-because-the-break-up-was-mutual Seddie, you'll **_**love**_** this fic. Oh, and if you like it when Freddie squirms at how bad he wants Sam again, you'll also love this fic.**

**No established relationship, though there is plenty of fluff and stuff to giggle at. It happens a few weeks after the last episode, which was… iBattle Chip? I think so… **

The first time he saw her ice skating was out of the blue. No, it wasn't a date. It wasn't the three of them hanging out and skating. It was just her on the rink. With Freddie standing by the side and watching.

In other words, Freddie seeing her ice skate for the first time was a complete accident.

It was a late Sunday afternoon, and apparently Carly had to pick up Spencer from Canada again because he fell asleep on the bus… yet again. She had called Freddie in a rush and instructed him to pick up Sam at the Seattle Frozen Oval Ice Rink a couple of blocks down from Bushwell, adding with a seething warning, "Whatever you do, do _not _go inside. Just call her and explain to her my whole issue with Spencer and ask her to come out. Okay?" To which he confusedly replied, "Ooo-kay?"

Completely oblivious to Sam's ability to even ice skate at all, he didn't question Sam's being there and drove to the ice rink, since he really had nothing to do at all – what with his homework being finished and no one else to hang out with.

He parked in the vast, mostly empty parking lot apart from two other cars and pulled out his phone to call her. But before he could, his mind suddenly picked up on the fact that she was here essentially _alone_.

He assumed the two cars were other employees' cars, then figured that she had somehow gotten a job there without his knowing. Deciding not to think about it any further, he finally dialed her, and after the eighth unanswered dial tone, he took his chances and hopped out of his car and into the building.

Maybe he should've thought it through a little more than he did. After all, it _was_ Sam Puckett they were dealing with, right? On any other occasion, his legitimate, rational mind would have been more than happy to stay in the car and keep dialing until she picked up, all in good intention to avoid a very likely beating. But for some reason, he just didn't care, and maybe his own curiosity as to what the chiz Sam was doing in an _ice skating rink_ just won him over.

Either way, he was going to find out once he got through those doors.

With nobody manning the ticket booth, he noticed the chart of hours posted on the window and scrolled his gaze down to Sunday.

SUNDAY – 9 AM to 6 PM

He checked the time on his PearPhone, noticing that they'd been long since closed, it being 7:12 and all. Growing even more curious, he turned into the vast hallway and into the doors of the ice rink, shivering at the rush of cool air that brushed past his body as he walked in.

And ho-ly chiz.

Aside from the fact that the rink was the biggest damn oval he'd ever seen in his entire life…

He couldn't believe how graceful that sexy myriad of curves on the ice looked. It was like the Sam on the ice wasn't the Sam he knew at all. The fiery blonde demon somehow had managed to look absolutely… sensual. It was like watching flames burn elegantly on ice. And it was quite a sight to see.

She skated backwards so fast he wondered how long she'd been doing this, and when she grabbed her foot and brought her right leg up parallel to her body and held it there while she skated on one skate, it absolutely took his breath away, leaving his slightly parted lips in a single rush of white puffs. When she continued to bend her legs in more ways than he thought humanly possible, all while skating on one foot, he thought he'd seen the best ice skater in the world.

It wasn't until she suddenly spun around in a fast but elegant and smooth circle that his breath was stolen from him once again, and his eyebrows snapped up in wonder.

_Who is this girl?_

It was like it wasn't Sam at all, and he briefly wondered if he had the wrong person.

But no. There was no denying the blonde curls tied in a lazy ponytail, the plump lips he could never seem to forget, and the-

Wait a second.

_Ponytail?_

Hot… damn.

Never in Freddie Benson's life had he _ever_ in the large amount of years he'd known Samantha Puckett seen her in a _ponytail_. And hell, if he didn't think she looked absolutely gorgeous. Oh, God, and she was wearing the tightest ice skating pants he'd ever seen that hugged her slender, perfect legs so _snugly_, accentuating how absolutely damn-

It was then he shook his head frantically.

_You guys aren't going out anymore, Freddie. Can't be thinking like that now._

And dammit if he didn't hate how right that little voice in his head was.

If only they were still going out. He had a few ideas of what he'd like to do to her after seeing that she was so flexible. How far back could her leg go if—?

_Keep it together, Benson._

He cleared his throat at the brief visual his non-gentlemanlike mind provided him and shook his head again. How could this girl manage to baffle him without even talking to him?

"That's incredible," he finally managed to call out to her after she'd completed another trick, hands stuffed in his pockets.

She yelped at the unexpected voice and slipped, falling down harshly on the ice.

"Ooh!" he started, hands flying out of his pockets and bolting for the open gate.

Not thinking, he rushed out onto the ice – completely disregarding the fact that he did not have ice skates on – and immediately slipped himself and crashed into the ice with a yell of his own. He stared up at the ceiling in a daze as he slid to a stop, shocked at the hit he took on the way down. The ice was painfully cold against his back through his thin button down shirt, and he winced and cursed himself for not bringing a sweater.

He turned his head to see Sam in the process of getting up, and she did it so smoothly it was a wonder how she could do it with her ice skates on. She looked towards the body lying cold on the ground a few feet to the left of her and recognized him immediately.

With a frustrated growl, she skated toward him slowly and stopped right next to him, crossing her arms and giving him a lethal glare, "What the hell, Benson?"

The white steam that flowed from her mouth from the cold of the rink made her words seem even more deadly, and he shivered, from the ice or the chill of her words he wasn't sure.

Somehow managing to speak through the pain and dizziness, he rasped out, "Carly was busy and she needed me to come pick you up here."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, extending a hand out towards him. He looked at it suspiciously, eyeing her sideways at the (seemingly) helpful gesture.

She rolled her eyes again and stuck her hand out even more insistently, "Just take it; I won't flip you over my shoulder or anything."

Extending his own cautious hand, he took hers and pulled himself up with the other on the ground, finding it a little difficult with the freshly Zambonied ice.

"I would've thought Carly would be smart enough to tell you not to come inside," she reprimanded with uncontained anger in her voice.

"Sorry," he muttered quickly in reply. "But you weren't picking up your phone after I called like eight times, so I decided to just go inside. I didn't think I'd come across… well, _this_."

She looked at him disbelievingly and asked the only obvious question, "What the hell else would you find me doing at an ice skating rink, Freddumb?"

"I don't know! Maybe you work here or something. How was I supposed to know you had an incredible talent for ice skating?"

"Hey!" a deep, husky voice suddenly interrupted them. Freddie turned his head slowly to the side at the daunting voice. "Is that boy bothering you?" the bulky man pointed an accusing forefinger at Freddie.

"N-no, Uncle Benny, he's just a good friend. I told you about Freddie, didn't I?" Sam said coolly.

"Oh," he rumbled. "Well, nice to finally meet ya', Freddie," he gave him a surprisingly pleasant smile. "You kids have fun now."

Sam rolled her eyes as he walked back into his office. "Thanks, Uncle Benny!" she called out sarcastically without looking, remembering the way he used to tease her at how soft she got when she went out with Freddie for a while.

"Who was _that_?" Freddie asked worriedly with wide eyes, still a little scared at the lingering image in his mind of the very large and _very _muscular man.

"That was my Uncle Benny," she replied. "He's the owner of this place."

"Wait, your Uncle Benny _owns _this place?" he asked in disbelief.

She looked at him sullenly. "No, Freddie. He's not the owner of this place. I just said that to be funny."

"That's so cool!" he said eagerly, like a little boy, completely ignoring Sam's malicious sarcasm. "How long have you been going here?"

"Ugh, can we _please_ talk about this somewhere else?" she complained. "I wasn't finished yet, but I'm not about to spin and skate around in girly circles for your nerdy enjoyment. Let's go somewhere else and talk."

"Uh, sure, fine," he mumbled, trying to hide his disappointment that he wouldn't be able to see more of her on the ice.

Before he knew it, she was skating towards the gate. When she finally stepped over the small ledge and out of the rink, she was about to bend down and untie her laces when she heard a thud and a pained whimper.

She looked up to see him sprawled on the floor once again, this time on his stomach, and tried not to laugh at the look on his face.

"Ow," was all he said when she looked at him with attempted worry on her face for a few moments before finally breaking out into vigorous laughter.

"You _could_ h-help me out first b-before l-l-laughing at me and leaving m-me on the ice t-t-to f-f-f-freeze to death," he stuttered, now shivering almost violently at the cold piercing the bare skin of his arms and chin.

She finally managed to pull herself together after a few more moments of laughter. "Okay, okay," she said, trying to steady her voice and skated out to him, extending another hand when she reached him.

"Wait. Roll over onto your back. You'll fall over again if you get up like that… which wouldn't be a problem on my part, but your choice," she grinned mischievously.

He obeyed, rolling onto his back to prevent another mishap and reached his hand out to grab Sam's. Once she bent her knees a bit to lift him up, he tugged harshly and unexpectedly on her hand, sending her down to the ice next to him.

"Benson!" she snarled.

But he didn't notice. He was too busy laughing and holding his stomach at the burn he felt in his abdominal muscles.

"You're dead. Come here!" she lunged towards him, but he was too quick for her and slid swiftly away, still laughing.

"No! Don't kill me. I'm sorry," he chuckled, his laughter dwindling down a bit. "But seriously, I need some help to get over there, there is no way I can just walk on this ice and not expect to fall with the lack of friction that the soles of my shoes provi—"

"Okay, Freddie, you're rambling!" she interrupted in an annoyed tone as she finally got up.

"Sorry," he mumbled and then held out his hand, asking without words for a little help.

He furrowed his eyebrow at the look she gave his hand and sighed, "I won't do anything shifty. Just help me up… please."

She gave in, extending her hand, but then she pulled him roughly in the direction of the gate and suddenly he was sliding freely and quite quickly on the ice.

"Wai- Sam. What are you—? OH, GEEZ!"

He yelped in pain as his body tumbled sideways over the two-inch high ledge, groaning in a daze on his back. She was right there behind him and stepped over him, putting ice skate-clad feet on either side of him and staring down.

"Should've seen that coming," was all she said with a challenging smirk.

All he did was part his lips slightly and nod with an agreed grunt.

ø

"So how long have you been ice skating?"

They decided to talk at their usual hang-out, The Groovie Smoothie, and took the table nearest the door. They'd both ordered Strawberry Splats, and Sam was waiting on her fries.

"I don't know. Ten, maybe eleven years," she replied, thanking T-Bo when he brought out her fries.

The ride to the Smoothie was pretty silent. But that was better than any other reaction Freddie was imagining. He thought for sure she'd be furious for having him find out something so girly about her, but she remained quiet almost the entire way there, like she was scared as to what he thought about it.

"Wow. So you've been skating since you were six, huh?" he said, impressed. "How did I never find out? After all these years… Who knew?"

_Yeah, that's what I thought when we started dating, _Sam thought absentmindedly, though her brain still managed to register his question.

"Yeah, well, it's just… a lot of fun," she said with a faraway look in her eyes, unwilling to reveal any more about it, embarrassed that the last person she wanted to see her in that element finally had. "I just never told you. I mean, you wouldn't have really cared anyway."

"Uh, yeah, I would!" he nodded, his voice going high-pitched. "You were unbelievable out there. You should let people see that side of you more often. It was stunning," he smiled sincerely. "_You_ were stunning."

His smile quickly turned into a satisfied smirk at the way she blushed and shrunk back a bit, eyes darting everywhere but him, before muttering in reply, "Well, thanks."

"No problem," he smiled.

She just curved her lips in a small smile back and continued eating her fries in response, taking a sip of her smoothie.

"Oh, have you ever done this?" she asked suddenly, squeezing off the lid of her smoothie.

"Done what?" he asked cautiously with hands on the table, afraid the contents of her cup might very well be dripping off of his head in the next few seconds if he didn't react quick enough.

"This," she grabbed two fries and dipped them in her smoothie, coating them with the bright pinkness of the beverage before stuffing them in her mouth with a satisfied moan. "God, it's so good. You have to try it."

His nose was scrunched and eyebrows furrowed, a look of repulsion on his face. "That's disgusting."

"It's perfectly _gratifying_. Not disgusting," she shook her head. "You don't know what you're missing out on."

"Oh, I think I know exactly what I'm missing out on and am perfectly okay to be," he swallowed and shuddered a bit.

"Won't know if you don't try," she sing-songed, waving another pair of strawberry smoothie-coated fries in his face.

"Thanks for the offer, but I—" he was interrupted when she shoved them into his mouth, and he was about to spit it out in disgust until he was surprised to find the taste unexpectedly… _good_. As in… _really_ good.

"Wow…" he said as he chewed, a contemplative look on his face. "That's actually… _wow_."

"Eh?" she smiled, nodding and raising her eyebrows in a smug manner, one that said: "I told you so."

He smiled and tried not to focus on the fact that she had just shared her food with him – something that happened very, _very_ rarely.

And, though he tried to protest it, the reason why he might have liked the taste of her fries so much was that it tasted exactly like Sam when he used to kiss her – strawberry lip gloss with a slight taste of something fried.

He might have just found his new favorite food.

"You know, I'd really like to see what else you can do on those ice skates," he said, and she laughed.

"Fat chance, Fredward" was all she said in reply, taking the last fry and popping it in her mouth.

He studied her closely, smiling and squinting at her a bit, as if it would clear his vision and generate an answer from her with his gaze.

"So how 'bout it?" he asked eagerly after a while, taking a sip of his smoothie.

"How 'bout what?" she asked as she nonchalantly took a sipof her own, as if oblivious to his wishes.

"How 'bout we ice skate sometime? Like… I don't know. Next weekend?" he implied hopefully.

Her eyes squinted as she eyed him carefully.

"If that is an invitation for you to laugh at me, the only thing you'll get to look forward to this weekend is my fist."

He laughed at her assertiveness and shook his head, "No, no. Just you, me, and the ice rink... And your Uncle Benny."

"So you're saying you want to be alone when we do this?" she asked challengingly with a raised eyebrow.

He immediately took note of the way she said "when" instead of "if."

"Well… we wouldn't exactly be _alone_, I mean, your Uncle Benny would be there…" he suggested with hopeful eyes, smiling at her last sentiment.

She squinted her eyes and eyed him again, giving him a challenging look and a smirk that would usually have him running out the door in seconds. After a few more heart-stopping moments on Freddie's part, he breathed a sigh of relief when she finally sighed in resignation, shook her head, and muttered under her breath, "Fine."

"So we'll do it?" he asked with a giddiness he couldn't quite explain, a boyish smile tugging at his lips.

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, Benson, did I not just say 'fine'?"

"YES!" he yelled out suddenly, making her and several other patrons of the Groovie Smoothie jump in their seats. "I mean, uh, thanks," he muttered when he realized his mistake, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck and shrinking in his seat.

She was giving him an incredulous look but couldn't help but giggle at the way his cheeks flushed crimson and lowered his head even more at the looks customers were giving him.

"You're so weird."

He snorted, "Says the one who likes dipping fries in her smoothies and eating them."

"Hey, you liked them, too, so don't go accusing _me_ of being the weird one."

He sighed. For once, Sam was actually right. "True."

They continued talking even after their smoothies were finished, and Freddie felt absolutely giddy and oblivious as to what hour it was by the time nearly two hours had passed.

"Yo, Benson, Puckett," T-Bo's voice came from behind the counter. "I'm about to pop the lid on this fruit joint, so you might wanna' take your date somewhere else."

"Oh, T-Bo, we're not… dating anymore," Sam said unevenly, afraid to look back at Freddie at the statement… or rather, fact.

"Date, meeting, gathering, get-together, casual discussion amongst two mutual individuals, I don't give an orange's carpel," he replied. "Gotta' close up."

They looked around, surprised to see the place was entirely unoccupied besides the two of them.

"Wow, uh, sorry, T-Bo, I guess we just lost track of time," Freddie said apologetically, a look of surprise still on his face as he and Sam got up.

"S'okay, Freddie. Now you two lovebirds run along," he walked towards them, gesturing towards the door. "Have fun with the rest of your date."

"We're not dat—" Sam tried to clear it up again, but was interrupted once more.

"I'm sure there's someplace else where you can smooch and be all couple-y," he waved them towards the door, effectively shooing them out.

Sam was already making her way down the sidewalk, but Freddie lingered a couple more moments.

"Uh, thanks for letting us stay for that long, T-Bo," Freddie rubbed a hand across the back of his neck apologetically, glancing up at him. "We didn't mean to be a burden."

"Aw, don't worry about it, Freddie. Nothing but a peach in an orange pile, always easy to move it back in its original place."

"Uh, yeah… sure," Freddie replied hesitantly, confused by T-Bo's random drabble. "Well, good night."

"G'night!" T-Bo cheered with a smile, about to close the door.

"Oh, and uh, T-Bo?" Freddie said before he could, taking a step forward.

"Yeah?"

"You _do _know that Sam and I aren't going out anymore, right?"

"With the way you two were talking and having a good time at that table today? Naw, Freddie, anyone standing on the outside looking in, would tell you the exact opposite."

Before Freddie could reply, T-Bo shut the clear glass door in his face and waved with a smile, locking up the door and beginning to clean up.

Freddie took a step back, a contemplative look on his face, "Huh."

"Hey, Fredwad, you gonna' keep standing there or walk home with me?" Sam called out from down the sidewalk.

He smiled and looked at the signature smirk on her face, giving his own smirk back, which quickly turned into a crooked grin.

_Anyone standing on the outside looking in, would tell you the exact opposite._

The words still remained in his head and refused to leave, and he jogged after Sam, excitedly looking forward to this weekend more than any other.

**A/N: I don't know; I was **_**gonna'**_** make this a one-shot, but now that I made them schedule a get-together the next weekend, I'm not so sure now. I feel like it would be so darn **_**cute**_**.**__**Would a second part make this story or break it? Let me know in a review. Thanks for reading!**

**C'mon, they didn't make that button the prettiest shade of blue for nothing. It was meant to be clicked on. Click on it. CLICK ON IT, I TELL YOU. The continuation of this fic depends on it! D:**

**V**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, at your request, the second part of "Fire on Ice"! :P I'm glad you all enjoyed the first part, and because of it, I've made this second part even cuter! x) Things will be looking bright on the couple-y side of Sam and Freddie here, so be prepared to squeal. ;)**

Freddie wasn't excited.

No, he was _ecstatic_.

The week had gone by incredibly fast, and it was already Sunday. Freddie wasn't sure if his smile could be any wider. The strain of his cheekbones as he drove to Sam's house were an indication of that, and it made him feel like a little boy again, giddy with excitement at the activity they were going to do today. Watching Sam ice skate last Sunday was nothing short of amazing, and he was so happy – beyond, even – to be able to ice skate with her while she did so this time.

Honking the horn twice in succession when he pulled up to Sam's house, he waited only ten seconds before he couldn't take it anymore. She had just opened the door, ice skates in hand, and turned around to lock it when she was being lifted up and carried quickly to Freddie's car bridal style.

"Hey, Fr- Wha- What the-! Freddie! What are you-!"

She was dropped clumsily into the passenger side of his car, and he slid smoothly across the hood to the driver's side, effectively transferring there swiftly as he opened up the door and slid into the driver's seat.

"Hey," he panted, a little out of breath from his efforts.

She stared at him incredulously, "Uh, hey?"

He smiled stupidly again, making her expression scrunch up even more.

"What?"

She stared at him and shook her head a few times, mouth slightly agape, and said, "You're so weird."

"What?" he said, pushing the shift to drive. "I'm just excited."

She slowly nodded as she said, "So you decided it was best to carry me to your car in a rush _because_ of your excitement?"

"Mm-hmm," he nodded, as if oblivious to how weird that all was.

"Uh, don't you think that's a little weird?" she asked as he finally started to drive.

He shook his head and pursed his bottom lip, not taking his eyes off of the road, "Mmm, no."

She stared at him a little more before finally sighing, "Oo-kay, then let's go."

"Not a problem," Freddie mumbled to himself with a smile as he drove.

ø

It was 6:30 by the time they arrived at the rink, which meant everyone was gone and they had the rink all to themselves – except for Uncle Benny, of course. Freddie shivered a little at the memory of the image of the bulky man, hoping he wouldn't make a wrong step – or else he was sure he'd be dead meat at the hands of that guy.

Freddie opened up the clear glass door and gestured towards its opening, "After you."

Sam raised an eyebrow and shook her head to herself, walking through the door without a word. Freddie was almost squealing in the car about how excited he was to ice skate with her, she was surprised her fist hadn't already made contact with his jaw. But no matter how many times she told him to relax, he'd just get even giddier, so she finally thought it best not to say anything at all.

"Did you bring your own skates?" she asked over her shoulder as she hopped over the rental counter, walking up and down the aisles for his size.

"No. I _do_ have a pair, I just outgrew them a long time ago. I'm a size—"

"I know," she interrupted, scanning through the racks of hockey skates.

She'd bought shoes for him before – a pair he'd been dying for – when they were dating, so she knew his size. She smiled unconsciously at the memory – how he spun her around and kissed her stupid, and that was when she decided kissing him was better than any present he could've given back.

"Here," she finally reached up and grabbed the shiny new pair. "These ones are new. Nobody's used 'em yet. They should feel really good."

"Oh," he said, taking the skates from her and smiling as she hopped back over the counter. "Thanks. Here."

He held out a crumpled ten-dollar bill.

"No, no, Freddie," she pushed his hand away. "We're closed. You don't have to pay."

"No, I feel bad. I want to," he insisted, pushing it towards her again. "It doesn't matter. Technically I'm still using the ice skates as a rental, which means I'm a customer, so it's only fair."

"Nope," she said simply, walking past him and the bill.

He sighed in resignation, pocketing the bill once again as he followed her.

"Wait," she said suddenly, stopping short of the entrance and grabbing his arm when he walked up beside her. "Do you even _know_ how to ice skate?"

"Yeah, definitely," Freddie smiled. "You're not the only talented one out of the three of us, you know," he winked.

"Funny," Sam quipped sarcastically, continuing to walk again.

"I am _high-larious_," Freddie insisted.

"Yeah, that explains why people were _so dearly entertained_ by your robot idea when Carly was gone, right?"

He pouted and looked at her with fake anger, and she laughed. "Still haven't gotten over that, huh?"

"I don't. Wanna'. Talk about it!" he whined, stomping his foot on each pause, and she sniggered at his childish response.

They entered the rink to find Uncle Benny on the blue Zamboni machine, driving it over the ice as it left a trail of slippery, completely smooth ice behind it.

"Hey, Sam-o!" he waved and flashed a toothy grin at her and squinted his eyes at the boy standing next to her.

"Heyyy!" he waved harder this time. "What's up, Benson!"

"Uh, hi!" Freddie waved hesitantly back.

"You guys can have your fun once I'm done with this thing!" he yelled across the rink to them as he smoothed down the last patch of ice.

He finally put the contraption back into its closet, and he made his way over to them rather quickly.

"Hey, Freddie," he extended a large hand, Freddie noticing the way his bicep curled into a huge muscle. Sure, he'd been working out a lot, too, and his muscles had grown considerably the past few years, but he wasn't sure his arms could ever look like Uncle Benny's.

"I don't think I got to really meet ya' last time. So, good to meet ya', buddy," Uncle Benny smiled. "You been treatin' my girl right?"

"Um. Your… girl?" Freddie stuttered, looking back at Sam.

"Wha- Oh! No, sir," he shook his head frantically. "Well, I don't mean, 'no, I'm not treating her right,' I mean- No, Sam and I… aren't… um, a _thing_… anymore."

"Oh," his shoulders slumped back a little bit. "Well, Sammy never told me about that."

Freddie turned around to see Sam with a hand slapped on her forehead and over her eyes, shaking her head into it.

"Uncle Benny," Sam gritted out through her teeth as she pinched the bridge of her nose between her forefinger and thumb in irritation, "please, just… _go_."

"Alright, alright," he threw his hands up in defense. "Sorry if I pressed a wrong button."

Sam turned around and began to get her stuff together, and that's when Freddie felt a muscular arm pull him into a death grip and into Uncle Benny's side, choking him.

"Did you hurt her?" he growled into his ear, pressing even harder on his neck.

"N-_no_, Unc-" he gasped. "Can't… breathe…"

He released his grasp on him a moment to let him speak, and Freddie clutched at his closed up throat, trying to bring air back to his lungs.

"No," he panted. "The break-up… was mutual."

"Mutual to you or _both_ of you?" he threatened.

"Both of us, sir. I swear," Freddie panted, still clutching his strained throat.

Uncle Benny eyed him carefully.

"Alright, Benson," he punched him in the shoulder, which was quickly followed by a wince. "You seem like a good kid, and I like you. But you won't exactly be having the time of your life when your bones are broken and you're suffocating in an over-sized garbage bag."

"Y-yes, sir," Freddie gulped, backing away from him like he was The Incredible Hulk. And he kind of was. It was just that his skin wasn't green.

He sat down next to Sam as she completed lacing her ice skates, and he pulled the first one on, still breathing a little heavily from the grip of Uncle Benny's arm.

"You okay there, Freddison?" she asked, looking at him concernedly.

"Never been better," he almost whimpered as he nodded, afraid Uncle Benny would hear him.

She grabbed her jacket and pulled it on. Freddie brought a jacket this time, and he did the same with his, smiling at the comfy feeling of the wool inside it warming him up despite the freezing temperatures of the rink.

"Ladies first," Sam gestured towards the gate as he got up from his seat, and he looked at her sullenly but couldn't help the smile on his face as he walked past her and into the rink.

"So," he said, turning around as he skated backwards towards the center of the rink, "what's your first trick that you'd like to show me?"

"I don't know," she challenged, arms crossed as she stepped into the rink herself but didn't follow him. "What do you wanna' see?"

He noticed for the first time that her hair wasn't pulled back like it was the last time she ice skated, and he felt a shard of disappointment settle in his stomach.

"Anything you got," he shot back. "If, of course, you think you can impress me."

"Pshh, excuse me. You're the one who called me stunning last week, so don't be thinking that I can't impress you."

He was relieved when she grabbed the black band from her wrist that he'd thought was a bracelet and used it to tie her hair back, almost panting like a hungry dog when she was done. God, she looked drop-dead gorgeous, even with the limited amount of make-up she had on.

Suddenly, she skated towards him quickly, and his eyes widened and then closed, expecting to be pummeled into the ground until he felt her whip past him, and he whipped his eyes back open and turned around. She started to spin around counterclockwise with her right leg in the air parallel to the ground as she gradually bent her left leg down, hugging her right leg as she continued to spin in a crouched position. She brought her foot back down as she spiraled back up in a standing position, and Freddie's eyebrows rose.

"Uh… wow," he gulped out, eyes wide.

"Not done yet, Freddie," she smirked, finding that she was delighted to be able to baffle him.

She skated past him again, and he turned to follow her with his eyes and watched as she brought her left leg backwards, reaching her hands over her head to grab her foot and hold it there as she skated.

He'd heard from cheerleaders at Ridgeway that this position was called 'The Scorpion,' and he'd be damned if any of them could look as hot as Sam could doing it.

_Dammit!_ his mind screamed at him. _Would you stop thinking about her like a piece of meat? Get yourself together, Freddie. This is Sam. Sam Puckett. You two are just best friends. _

He started to hyperventilate at the image of her, trying to steady his breathing and clear his mind of the images that were once again polluting his usually gentlemanlike thoughts.

But they were reignited once again when Sam started skating backwards and brought her hands down to grasp onto her right ankle, bringing her left leg straight in the air as she continued to glide smoothly with one skate in reverse.

_Damn hormones._

This time, he could feel his mouth hanging open as he practically drooled at the image before him. The position of her body accentuated her best features – her slender, sleek legs stretched out as far as they could go, her shiny, curly hair slightly swaying with the wind she'd picked up, her chest jutting out—

_STOP! _his mind reprimanded once again. _What is _wrong_ with you? I thought we went over this already!_

She continued doing what felt like hundreds of other tricks for him, and by the time she was completing her last one, his brain felt absolutely fried and exhausted from trying to keep himself from launching at her and devouring her mouth with his. He did, however, smile and clap genuinely when she completed each one, trying to demonstrate his appreciativeness of her talents in at least one way or another.

"Uh, Fredward?" he heard suddenly. "Fredalupe?"

He was broken from his trance when fingers were snapped in front of his face, and he jumped, shaking his head.

"Wha- What happened?" he babbled, trying to clear his vision and his mind.

"Um, I'm done ice-skating, Freddie," she said, a blush coming to her cheeks for the first time that night.

"Oh," he said. "Oh, sorry. Yeah… thanks. That was… really nice." He smiled.

"Thanks," she said and cursed herself when she felt the blush in her cheeks burn even hotter.

ø

"What time is it?" she asked, skating next to him.

It was a little over an hour since they'd been on the ice. They'd took a break to eat dinner in the cafeteria there which consisted of chicken tenders and fries. Of course, Sam got most of the chicken tenders.

"Umm…" Freddie pulled out his PearPhone and turned it on. "It's about 8."

"Wow, really? Geez," she stuffed her hands in her jack pockets and suddenly stopped at the feel of a crumpled piece of paper in her right hand. She pulled it out.

"Freddie-" she started to chastise, but he stopped her.

"Look, Sam, just take the dang money!" he exasperated, gesturing towards the ten-dollar bill. "Since when do you not like getting money anyway?"

"Well… true," she said. "But really, you don't need to pay!"

She tried to hand it back to him, but he moved away, putting his hands behind his back.

"Nope," he shook his head and skated backwards away from her.

"Freddie," she started to get annoyed, skating towards him with a serious but amused look in her eye.

"I'm not taking it back!"

"Freddie, I don't need it!" she scolded, skating towards him faster as he gained speed.

She couldn't help but laugh, and he couldn't help but join in with her as she started chasing him around the rink, trying to stuff the old bill back into his own jacket pocket.

"Sam, I've played hockey a few times and am not bad at it!" he yelled amusedly over his shoulder at her. "You should know we can skate pretty darn fast!"

"Yeah, and I'm a pretty good figure skater, Freddie! I'm sure you know that!" she challenged, surging forward at him. "I can catch up to you!"

"Then why aren't you doing it?" he challenged, and she growled, the corner of her lip turning up as she continued to gain speed.

Putting all of her strength into five glides of her skates, she finally got right behind him and wrapped her arms quickly around him, successfully placing the bill back into his pocket. She pumped her fist in victory and let out a whoop, but Freddie suddenly lost balance with Sam dragging him down, and he yelped, slipping onto the ice and laughing as she too yelled out and fell to the ice next to him. They looked at each other for only five seconds before bursting out into vigorous laughter, holding their stomachs at the burn they felt in their abdominals.

Their giggling beginning to dwindle down, they both looked up and found themselves coincidentally staring up at the hockey scoreboard, right in the middle of the rink. He looked under him to find the central red dot of the rink below them, and he laughed, "Bullseye."

She looked at what he was staring at, and she laughed with him.

"I think we may have a chance at curling, Sam."

"Yeah, human curling," she laughed.

They lay there for a few moments, enjoying the sudden emptiness and serenity that filled the quiet rink. Sam noticed the tug she felt at the corners of her lips, and couldn't believe the feel of the unerasable smile on her face.

She'd thought this would be torturous, with Freddie teasing her about how girly ice skating was and gushing over how cool the tricks were, but it wasn't like that at all. Freddie was fully appreciative of Sam's talents and was clapping enthusiastically and smiling warmly at every completed trick she'd do. It reminded her of why she'd gone out with him – his warm, wonderful personality and good heart… Dammit, she'd do anything to get back together with him.

"Alright, we should get up now," Freddie suddenly said, grunting as he got up, tearing her from her reverie. "This ice is just about giving me a frost bite."

"Yup," she said awkwardly, taking his hand as she got up herself, unable to make eye contact with him after what she'd just thought in her head.

Because it was true. She _did_ want to get back together with him. It was just so complicated with this 'maybe one day' stuff and 'maybe when you get a little more normal.' All "maybe." No definitely. And it was killing her.

ø

"What about you?" she asked as she skated slowly next to him, hands stuffed in her jacket pockets. "When did_ you_ learn how to ice skate?"

He stared down at his shoes, watching his feet take glide after glide as he skated beside her, refreshing the memory in his mind.

"I was with my dad," he said, the corner of his lip turning up a bit. "He loved hockey. It was one of his favorite hobbies. He brought me to one of his games one day and let me watch. It was my sixth birthday, and after the game, he surprised me with a pair of hockey skates."

She looked at him, feeling sorry for bringing it up. She'd already known what had happened with his father, after all their talks when they were dating, and she didn't want to force him to talk about his first time ice skating with him.

"Freddie, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't need—"

"No, no," he insisted. "I want to. I want you to know. Don't worry about it."

She looked at him almost sympathetically before nodding and continuing to skate next to him as he talked.

"Anyway, he helped me lace them and put them on, and he brought me out on the ice," he continued. "I kept slipping at first, but he held my arms above my head to keep me from falling. I remember accidentally clashing his skate with mine, and then I started to tumble to the ice and then he tried to stop me but ended up falling, too."

He laughed at the memory, continuing to look down at his skates.

"And I eventually got the hang of it, after coming to a bunch of his hockey games," he concluded, and she smiled sympathetically, knowing he was remembering all of his experiences with his father.

"That was..." Freddie swallowed, nodding, determined not to let a tear slip. "That was my favorite memory of him."

Sam couldn't take it anymore; she saw the glossiness in his eyes, and no matter what he was thinking, no matter what boundaries they had supposedly settled after the break-up, she knew he needed to be comforted.

"Freddie…" she whispered, reaching a hand out to him.

He turned towards her, and she immediately wrapped her arms around him, understanding his pain and the memories of his non-present father. She felt his muscles relax instantly at her touch, and he wrapped his own arms tightly around her, pressing his face against her neck. His body was trembling a little – from his own apprehension or the chill of the ice around them she wasn't sure. It was hard for her to know it probably wasn't the latter.

She had to swallow back a lump in her throat when she felt a drop of moisture make contact with the skin of her neck, and she didn't need to look to know what it was. Her arms automatically went even tighter around him, as if hoping it would protect him from those kinds of memories, and she wished she could kiss it away.

But, of course, the break-up was mutual…

Ugh, you know what?

Screw it.

She pulled him away suddenly from her body and cupped his face, almost laughing at his confused expression, and pressed her lips against his softly in a kiss that said: "I'm here. Let me comfort you."

Freddie wasn't sure if he was dreaming. He absolutely felt like he was, but after a few more seconds, he knew that the lips covering his own were really there, and it felt like that night at the Ridgeway school lock-in all over again. He wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her there, kissing her like it was the last time he'd ever see her, and he felt a smile growing against her lips.

He had hoped and waited for this for months, and he was incredibly happy to be doing this all over again. He finally pulled away for air, and she breathed a cloud of white steam into his face, panting for her own lack of oxygen.

"Sam…" he whispered against her lips, forehead resting on hers. "I love you."

He didn't even need to ask if they were dating again.

"Can that be enough this time?" he queried, looking at her and almost drowning in the shiny blueness of her gaze.

"Yes," she nodded, smiling, almost giggling with joy. "Yes."

All apprehension towards his father suddenly forgotten, he laughed, hugging her again and pressing his face into her neck, inhaling her scent and becoming almost addicted to it at that moment.

"God, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for us to get back together," he said gruffly, and she laughed, planting a kiss on his nose.

"Of course I do," she replied, grinning. "I waited the same amount of time."

"God," he shook his head. "That break-up was stupid anyways. Let's just be ourselves this time, you know? Our relationship isn't weird, Sam." He took her hand. "That's just who we are: Sam and Freddie. We've been bickering since the second grade; I don't ever want that to change, even if we _are_ dating."

"I know," she replied. "I know it was stupid. I feel like I've been spending months agonizing over asking you out again, but it was always that 'the break-up was mutual' feeling that kept stopping me."

He sighed, smiling and rubbing a thumb across her rosy, cold cheek. "Well… we're back together now."

"Yeah, took us long enough," she laughed.

They stared at each other a few moments before hugging again, and the warmth they felt in their hearts and from each other's bodies completely eliminated the chill of the rink around them as they melted into each other, lost in their own world.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and gentle strobe lights came on along with romantic music, effectively filling the quiet rink. They pulled away from each other abruptly, looking around confusedly as they were ripped suddenly from their reveries.

Sam knew whose doing this was, and she glared at the man standing at the side of the rink, arms crossed and laughing heartily. "You kids having fun?"

"That's not funny," Sam deadpanned back, but still couldn't keep the little smile from forming on her lips.

"Yeah, well, get mad at me all you want; I ain't turnin' that music off, Sammy," Uncle Benny challenged, winking and walking away.

Freddie laughed and turned back around to face Sam.

"You know, for such a muscular and well… violent man, that guy sure is funny and laidback."

"Yeah, sometimes he gets annoying but… he's a really good guy. Gotta' love Benny," she grinned.

"Anyway," Freddie said after a few moments, "what do you say we make good use of this music and skate around, huh?" He extended a hand out towards her.

"Sure," she took his hand and intertwined his fingers, shivering a bit. "Your hands are cold," she complained.

"Hmm… Warm them up for me?" he asked suggestively, and she smiled coyly, taking his hands and bringing them to her mouth, blowing hot air between them and rubbing them with her own hands. Right before she was done, she pressed a kiss to his fingertips, and Freddie smiled at her as she let the kiss linger with a bashful look in her gaze.

"Warm enough?" she asked.

"Nope," he said, grabbing ahold of her waist and pulling her to him. "Warmer."

But honestly, Freddie didn't think he could ever get any warmer than the feeling in his chest when he pressed his lips against hers.

She smiled against his lips when he pulled away and pressed a kiss to his nose. Feeling her own hands now getting a little cold, she shoved them into her coat pockets and almost yelled at him in annoyance when she, once again, felt the crumpled paper.

"Freddie!"

**A/N: Awwww… How was that? Too fluffy? I hope it wasn't corny or cheesy or anything; that's what I was trying to avoid. Haha. My main goal was fluffy, but not cheesy. If it was a little cheesy, let me know! I won't be offended. It'll help me work even harder next time and not make it too cheesy, otherwise it'll be unrealistic. :) **

**Oh, and if my description of the tricks sucked and you couldn't really picture it, just check out Jennette's ice skating videos on YouTube on her channel mebejennette. That's where I got the tricks, so check that out. **

**Thank you to all who reviewed, favorited, and followed. I was surprised by the response; you guys are the best. Thanks again. :D And a big thanks in particular to Dwyn Arthur who I was thoroughly surprised reviewed this and is a member (I think) of the Cabal – I absolutely adore your work; your co-authored story "Full Circle" with TheWrtrInMe literally had me in tears. Truly amazing fic. :) Thank you so much for reviewing.**

**Please, please review! Reviews always give me indications and help me to improve and contour my writing to fit iCarly fan fic readers' needs and expectations. So click on that white box and get typin'! :P Thanks for reading!**


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